Research project writing is the final test of academic achievement among undergraduate students in Nigeria. Project writing is very technical especially when a format or instruction is given by your project supervisor. There are some project topics that have limited materials to work with and some supervisors will still demand that student give them a research work with recent citations. Some student end up changing their topics; some even battle with the project till they carry it over to next semester.
CITATIONS
Citations are used to show your reader(s) where the information in your paper was originally published. Citations are important because they show your reader(s):
 when the information was published
 who the author of the information is
 which journal or group published the information
 which version the information was published in (usually just for literature)
All of this information about the information you cite in your papers is important because it not only keeps you from plagiarizing1 other people’s ideas, but it also helps you prove to your reader(s) that you know your topic. Many of us might see information on television, the radio, the internet, or social media that is not cited. Usually, we then ask ourselves, “how does this person know this?” or “where did he or she get his/her information?” By using citations, our readers are more likely to trust us and what we write.
Different scholarly and professional organizations have established their own ways of citing information. The most common citation styles that you will encounter in college were developed by the APA (The American Psychological Association) and the MLA (Modern Language Association). Other citation styles include Chicago (published by the University of Chicago), CSE (Council of Science Editors), and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
It is important to use the citation style that is used in the field you are writing for. For example, many social scientists use the APA citation style for their papers. APA in-text citations include years, but years are not included in other citation styles’ in-text citations. For social scientists, the year that research was conducted is important since research could be conducted various times over multiple years; therefore, if the reader does not know which year the research came from, she or he might not fully understand the paper. Each citation style has details that are important for that field, so be sure to use the citation style that your instructor suggests.
TYPES OF CITATION
In academic writing, it is important to cite your information two ways: with in-text citations and a bibliography (i.e., works cited page or references page).
In-text citations
In-text citations are citations that are inserted in the main text of your paper. The purpose of these citations is to let your reader know from where a specific piece of information came. If you do not include in-text citations, your readers will be more likely to distrust your credibility as an author and you are in danger of plagiarizing. To avoid plagiarism, you must cite all information that is from another source. That means that even if you put someone else’s ideas in your own words, it still must be cited. You must cite all information that you quote directly from another source, paraphrase, or summarize using in-text citations. There are two ways to include in-text citations in your paper: using a signal phrase or using parentheses.
Signal phrase
An effective way to include in-text citations is by introducing the author’s name in a signal phrase and adding the page number at the end of the quotation or paraphrase. A signal phrase is simply a phrase that signals to your reader that a citation is coming soon in your paper. In the examples below, the signal phrase is in bold text. Use signal phrases to cite information the first time it appears in your paper. After that, you can use the parenthetical citations
Parenthetical citations
Parenthetical citations use parentheses to show from where the information you are using came. Inside the parentheses, you will include the author’s last name, and in some cases the year and page number.
Bibliography
Bibliographies are called different things depending on which citation style you are using. In MLA, for example, it is called the Works Cited page, and in APA, it is called the References page. The bibliography shows your reader all relevant information regarding your sources. In your bibliography, you typically need to include the following information for each source.
 The author’s name
 The title of the source
 Publication information
 Date of publication
When you list electronic sources in your bibliography, you often need to include the following.
 Website publication information
 The date you accessed the information
Different citation styles require that you include different information, so be sure to consult reliable citation style resources to ensure that you are including the correct information. For examples of bibliographies from different citation styles, visit the Mary Stangler Center for Academic Success, or see the Resources section on the next page.
UNDERGRADUATE PROJECTS
Undergraduate research is an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline. Undergraduate project is an academic assignment (or research) undertaken by a student towards the completion of his/her academic pursuit of a first degree as stated in his first degree curriculum.
See samples of Undergraduate Project Topics In Pdf And Doc
Undergraduate research projects can be designed to fit a variety of class constructs and to promote student learning at all levels of undergraduate education. It is also a task undertaken by student(s) within a given period of time in a given subject area aimed at making the student have independent capacity for inquiries and to supplement and as well complement formal teaching in his area of study. This enables the student hone-in the theoretical course work in the university. There is no doubt that the exercise will reveal to the lecturer who is assigned to supervise the student, the student’s area of strength and weaknesses. When these weaknesses are corrected during lecturer – student interaction, the student comes out to be the pride of the university – the alma mater.
Undergraduate research projects can be student or faculty initiated, and students can either participate in a work in progress or enter a project at its start. Undergraduate research is the exploration of a specific topic within a field by an undergraduate student that makes an original contribution to the discipline.
HOW TO WRITE UNDERGRADUATE PROJECTS WITH RECENT CITATIONS
Writing projects with recent citation is usually difficult for undergraduate students who have not writing projects before. Well I’m writing this article to educate as much undergraduate students I can on how to write projects with recent citations. On a normal basis a student will type his/her undergraduate project topic on google and attach pdf at the end; this will display results of journals in pdf form. If you want to write your projects with recent citations, or you need to do is to types you the variables in your topic one after the other; at the end of each variable you typed on google attach pdf and the year you want google to display for you.
For example: Effect of monetary incentive on workers productivity pdf 2010
You will observe that most of the results are showing journals with recent citations. Any year you want your citation to begin with, you simple put that year at the end of the variable you types on google.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion writing project with recent citation is very interesting; the act of typing a topic on google and adding pdf and the year you want your citations to start from tend be effective in giving student a good research work.